Water and carbon dioxide are generally immiscible under normal environmental conditions, i.e., room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Apparatuses and methods exist for producing carbonated water by creating conditions under which carbon dioxide will become water-soluble. Generally, carbon dioxide becomes more soluble in water as pressures increase and temperatures decrease.
In some cases carbonation devices produce an outflow of carbonated water that is more turbulent than desired. The turbulence of the flow may degrade the level of carbonation or produce a poorly controlled or inconsistent output flow rate.
In fluid mechanics, the Reynolds number is a dimensionless number that gives a measure of the ratio of inertial forces to viscous forces in a flow and consequently quantifies the relative importance of these two types of forces for given flow conditions. The Reynolds number may be used to characterize different flow regimes, such as laminar or turbulent flow. Laminar flow occurs at low Reynolds numbers, where viscous forces are dominant, and is characterized by smooth, constant fluid motion. Turbulent flow occurs at high Reynolds numbers and is dominated by inertial forces, which tend to produce chaotic eddies, vortices and other flow instabilities.